I'm not sure if there's a more underrated star in the league than Damian Lillard. The dude routinely balls out in leading Portland to the playoffs, has sunk a handful of clutch shots, and has a really solid rap game, too.
And now, he's the owner of one of the coolest buzzer beaters in NBA history. The Portland Trailblazers are moving on while the Oklahoma City Thunder are going home. The shot in and of itself is spectacular – it's not every day you see a 37-foot stepback three to clinch a series – but my favorite part of this play is Seth Curry (in the white headband in the top corner) talking trash to the Thunder's bench. Curry reportedly said something to the effect of, "Dame's about to end your season" and then turned and glared daggers at the bench after the shot went in. Absolutely beautiful.
Sometimes, you just have to do everything by yourself.
Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota found his team down 21-3 early in the third quarter of the AFC Wild Card matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs. On third and goal from the six-yard line, Mariota rolled out to his left, looking like he was going to try and scramble for a touchdown. At the last second, he attempted a pass, only to have it batted away...
...or so everyone in the stadium thought, except for Mariota. The ball caromed right to him, and he dove into the end zone for the score.
It ended up being a huge play, as the Titans went on to win 22-21. They'll advance to play either the New England Patriots or the Pittsburgh Steelers in the divisional round. And Mariota will likely need to produce some more magic to record an upset for the second straight week.
Enjoy the miraculous play below:
Marcus Mariota just caught his own pass for a @Titans TD!!
The Buffalo Bills haven't made the playoffs since 1999. They lost to the Tennessee Titans during a play that's since been dubbed the Music City Miracle. They had a legal voting age's worth of postseason drought built up, with plenty of additional frustrating moments along the way.
Tonight, the Bills got back into the playoffs. And for that, they can thank...Andy Dalton, of all people.
Buffalo needed a couple of things to go their way to sneak in as a wild card. First, they needed to defeat the Miami Dolphins on the road. The Dolphins are a terrible team, yet they always seem to win two or three games each year that they shouldn't, so who really knows. Buffalo took care of business, though, knocking off the Phins, 22-16.
Next, the Bills were rooting for the Ravens to lose. They could also have gotten in if both the Titans and Chargers lost, but neither of those things happened. So, the entire city of Buffalo was rooting for the old Red Rocket, as Dalton took over from Cincinnati's own 10-yard line.
The Bengals quarterback did not disappoint, leading an impressive 90-yard drive. Dalton connected with Tyler Boyd for a 49-yard touchdown with 44 seconds remaining. The Ravens had a chance to tie but turned it over on downs. And the longest playoff drought in professional sports came to an end.
In case you missed it, Steph Curry set an absurd amount of records this year, from his 402 made threes to his team's 73-9 record. Oh, and he also became the first player to score 17 points during an overtime session, and won the first unanimous MVP award in league history. Not too shabby.
To celebrate the video game greatness that is Mr. Curry, the NBA created a little montage of plays that will make you either a) jump out of your seat, b) shake your head in disbelief, or c) flip a table in excitement. All are great reactions. Enjoy!
Kyle Lowry has been abysmal all playoffs. Chalk it up to nerves, an elbow injury, or perhaps a combination of the two. So it seemed like the Raptors point guard had finally found redemption when he nailed this half courter against the Heat. It was especially impressive because the Raptors had been down by six with less than nine seconds left. Miami basically had to win the game twice...which they then did in overtime. The Heat dropped the first eight points of the extra session, and Toronto never had a chance. Maybe Lowry will finally bounce back in Game 2.
When Blair Walsh lined up for a 27-yard kick in the NFC Wild Card round, Vikings and Seahawks fans were all on the edge of their seats. The Vikes were down 10-9, all of their points being scored by Walsh. But he hooked his fourth attempt wide left, and...well, the reactions were all over the place. Check out some of them above.
Wednesday's deciding Game 5 between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Texas Rangers was fairly ho-hum until the seventh inning. That's when things got WILD.
The Rangers, who were up 2-0 in this series after winning the first two games in this very same building in Toronto, had a runner on third and Shin-Soo Choo up at the plate. And...well, something I've never seen before happened:
Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin is trying to throw the ball back to the mound, and he hits Choo's bat. But Choo was simply going through his in-between pitches routine and wasn't interfering at all. The runner on third scored, despite the umpire initially blowing the play dead. After a review, the run counted, and fans started throwing trash on the field:
BUT NOT TO FEAR. The Blue Jays still had Jose Bautista going up in the bottom of the seventh, and Joey Bats delivered with the equivalent of a basketball dunk posterizing someone:
Rain delays are a common part of baseball games. And quite often, the grounds crew is able to cover the field with a tarp without incident. Then other times, you get fantastic displays like the one in Kansas City.
With the Astros beating the Royals 3-1 in the top of the third inning, Mother Nature started getting angry, and rain began pouring down. The game was delayed while the crew began doing their thang. Unfortunately, one unlucky crew member slipped and fell. The tarp did not care and just kept rolling.
Fortunately, Tarp Guy, as he is now and probably will forever be known by, escaped uninjured. Those tarps are dangerous!
Week 17. Any fantasy league worth its salt has already wrapped up, and teams all around the league are resting people, so games are usually duds. BUT, since so many teams are pathetically mediocre this year, we got a lot of barn burners in the last week of the regular season. Let's get to the action!
-It's only fitting that the Chicago Bears' Chris Conte messed up on what turned into the game-winning play. After all, he's been doing it all season. Da Bears gave great effort in a 33-28 loss, with Matt Forte scoring three touchdowns (just one score last week woulda been swell for the fantasy team, Matt). Aaron Rodgers looked rusty as all getup but still made the plays when he needed to, and a Packers/Niners rematch in round one should be pretty interesting.
-The Bears and Packers gave us our Stupid Play of the Week as well, courtesy of the entire Bears defense (most notably linebacker James Anderson). Jarrett Boykin scored a really weird touchdown on an Aaron Rodgers fumble because nobody on defense thought to pick up a ball that was just hanging out on the ground, even though I'm fairly certain diving on a loose ball is the second thing any defensive player learns. The first being tackling, of course. Which is something else the Bears don't really do well, so maybe it makes sense. Anyway, the Bears, as you read last paragraph, lost by five, so...not giving up a stupid touchdown would have been nice.
-Entering play today, somehow if the Dolphins, Ravens, Steelers and Chargers all won, the Dolphins would make the playoffs, but if they all lost, the Ravens would instead be the AFC's sixth seed. Those wacky tiebreakers! Fortunately, we didn't have to worry about that, as the Ravens and Dolphins both laid stinkers: the Ravens respectablyish lost 34-17 to a Bengals team that went undefeated at home this year, while the Dolphins, fresh off a 19-0 loss at Buffalo when they controlled their playoff fate, turned in just as putrid a performance in a 20-7 defeat at home to the Jets, who might be the worst team in the history of the NFL and still finished 8-8. Rex Ryan oughta win Coach of the Year. But that still won't stop the Dolphins from winning our Worst Team of the Week for consecutive weeks. Way to go, fellas.
-At the end of the day, the Chargers did everything they possibly could to lose to a Chiefs team playing virtually all second-stringers, but they snuck out a 27-24 overtime victory and will head to Cincinnati for the first round of the playoffs. I fully expect them to lose like 28-17, but they'll be a pesky out.
-The Chargers making the playoffs means the Steelers are out, as well. So Pittsburgh likely won't be docked a draft pick, as was insinuated when Mike Tomlin hopped onto the field "accidentally" to stop a Jacoby Jones return. The fact they were even in the hunt after being 5-8 three weeks ago just goes to show how awful the AFC has been this year.
-The Houston Texans are getting a mention only because they lost their last 14 games of the year. And a graphic from that game reminded me: they were actually shockingly close to going 0-16. In Week 1, they mounted a massive comeback and scored the last 24 points in a 31-28 win against San Diego, then in Week 2 they needed an Arian Foster touchdown and two-point conversion with under two minutes left to force overtime against the Titans before winning 30-24 in the extra frame. They're also getting a mention because their rematch with the Titans was a boring 16-10 loss, boring enough to win our Most Boring Game of the Week. Even Matt Schaub's last second comeback attempt fell flat, with an interception on the first pass from scrimmage. Enjoy that first pick in the draft, Houston.
-Peyton Manning set another record this week, and he did it in just one half of play. Manning went 25 for 28 for 266 yards and four touchdowns as the Broncos demolished the Raiders, 34-14. He finished with 5,477 yards and 55 touchdown passes on the year, both single-season records.
-The Patriots, Colts, Seahawks and Saints all got solid wins to build some momentum heading into the playoffs. Of course, both the Pats and Seahawks have a week off anyway, and the Saints head on the road, where they're shakier than a Broadway show about blind trapeze artists.
-I'm kinda glad Arizona lost, because I'd be sad if they finished 11-5 and missed the playoffs. They were down 17-0 to San Francisco before bouncing back and tying things, but then their defense, which had been so great all year, allowed the Niners to march down the field in about 30 seconds and kick the game-winning field goal. San Francisco has looked rough at times this year, but they're a playoff-tested team that can do some damage, even on the road.
-One day, Dallas won't lose a game in heartbreaking fashion. That day was not today.
A big congrats to Peyton Manning for breaking the single-season touchdown pass record, as he's now thrown for 51 scores in just 15 games. That's absurd, and a total he'll most likely add to in next week's season finale. Way to go, Peyton. Now, let's get to the rest of Week 16's action:
-The Miami Dolphins easily win our Worst Team of the Week. It never ceases to amaze me that a team can be fighting for its playoff life and still manage to lay a complete stinker as the Dolphins did, throwing for 82 yards in a 19-0 loss to the Buffalo Bills. As you may expect, four field goals and one short rushing touchdown makes this our Most Boring Game of the Week as well. Keep in mind the Bills were starting their fourth-string quarterback. NOT GOOD, MIAMI.
-Not to be outdone, the Baltimore Ravens' level of ineptitude was quite high this week, as well. After a gritty 18-16, let's-not-score-a-touchdown-whatsoever win over the Lions last week, the Ravens promptly came out at home against the Patriots, a team they've had past success against, and...lost 41-7. The Patriots had two defensive touchdowns in the final minute to make things a little more of a blowout, but Baltimore again was abysmal offensively. I'm fairly certain Joe Flacco only completed two passes in the first half.
-Meanwhile, the Detroit Lions were 6-3 a little over a month ago, in the driver's seat for the playoffs. Now they're 7-8 and have no shot of making the postseason. They lost to the Giants, who you may remember gave up on football about three weeks ago and scored zero points as recently as last week.
-Hey, it's another team that likes shooting themselves in the foot! The Green Bay Packers' Matt Flynn wins our Stupid Play of the Week. I'm not sure if jumping while throwing is something he practices often, but yikes. This is bad. The Steelers ended up winning by seven, so...that kind of was the game. Yet the Packers, just like all these other godawful teams, still have a shot to make the playoffs. Even the Steelers, who were 4-7 and 5-8, have a shot. Meanwhile, one of the Cardinals, Panthers, Saints or 49ers will not make the playoffs, despite the fact they may all finish at 11-5 (or, at the very worst, 10-6). Pathetic.
-Let's give the Cardinals some dap, too. They overcame four interceptions from Carson Palmer and got a 17-10 win in Seattle (while almost earning our Most Boring Game of the Week award). Considering the Seahawks haven't lost at home since the Carter administration, that's really impressive. Arizona had to win its last two games (against Seattle and San Francisco) to make the playoffs, and they're halfway there.
-Continuing on positive mentions, the Chargers were locked in a tight one with the Raiders, but managed to pull away and keep their dim playoff hopes alive. Of all these crappy teams fighting for playoff spot in the AFC, San Diego is the most entertaining to watch, so I'm pulling for them.
-The Colts and Chiefs gave us a preview of a likely first round matchup as they squared off in Kansas City. And Indy throttled the Chiefs, scoring the final 23 points in a 23-7 win. This Indy team has now demolished the Niners and Chiefs on the road, and took care of the Seahawks and Broncos at home. Yet they also barely beat the Raiders, lost at home to the Rams by 30 and on the road at Arizona by 29. They're an enigma for sure, but my doppleganger Andrew Luck and company will give anyone fits in the playoffs.
-If the Bengals are at home, they look really good. They're 7-0 in Cincinnati this season and have scored over 40 points in each of their last four games. That doesn't bode well for Baltimore next week. Of course, now that I wrote that, the Ravens will win 38-7 in Week 17.
